1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to Internet searching techniques, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for searching the Internet to augment search results of real time information with non-real time information.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of search engines have been developed to assist users in locating and retrieving specific useful information from the Internet. Typically, a search engine accepts one or more keywords from a user, performs a search for information containing the keywords and returns links to the information containing the keywords for the user to review. Various services are available which provide ways in which the user is able to search the Internet and retrieve relevant information.
One particular concept utilized by various Internet real time information retrieval services provides the users with customized selections of real time information from the Internet. These services typically utilize models of the user's interest, i.e., mechanisms which are generally connected to a personalized model that has been accumulated over time, to filter information from applications such as really simple syndication (RSS) feeds to provide the user-personalized data of interest to the user. In addition, a user may receive news (an example of real time information) related to specific topics compiled and presented by a news aggregation service.
The various search engines for searching the Internet do not make use of models of the user's interest. However, users may want to see non-real time information in conjunction with their personalized real time information. For example, a user interested in real time information about a certain product type, may find it relevant to have access to, for example, periodic summaries of merger and acquisition (M&A) activities involving companies that make products of a similar type, past news stories about competitors and the like. Such information will not be part of a real time feed as it may have occurred in the past. For example, the M&A activity referred to earlier may have occurred months ago, but may still be relevant to the user's interest. This kind of information can be found through regular search mechanisms. However, regular search mechanisms do not have the relevance and specificity that the user has become accustomed to through real time services.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for searching the Internet for personalized and automated non-real time information retrieval to augment real time information.